Six of the best NBA player music videos of all time

NBA players and musicians have always been close. A common option we’ve seen over the years is music videos, where NBA players have often made cameo appearances, whether it’s just showing their faces for a moment or being a main character in the story as an artist attempts it to tell.

Today we wanted to highlight some of our favorite performances by NBA players in music videos over the years. Players from different eras – and songs from different genres – made the list, but all are artists who make a point to include some of basketball’s biggest names in their videos.

Kobe Bryant: “Bug-a-Boo” by Destiny’s Child

This wasn’t the only time Kobe collaborated with Destiny’s Child – he recorded a verse for a remix of their track “Say My Name.” However, he makes a cameo appearance in the video for “Bug-a-Boo” when Destiny’s Child – trying to escape a group that annoys them – dives into a locker room. As they walk through there, they come across Bryant sitting there getting ready to play basketball.

Michael Jordan: “Jam” by Michael Jackson

At some point MJ and MJ just had to appear in a music video together, right? The two appear on a basketball court shooting hoops with each other, and at one point Michael (Jackson) teaches Michael (Jordan) some dance moves. When this video came out in 1992, these were possibly the two most famous people in the world, and it’s a pretty remarkable cultural artifact.

DeMar DeRozan: “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar

DeRozan, the latest release on this list, was one of the many celebrities who made a cameo in Lamar’s summer anthem, which also marked the culmination of his feud with Drake earlier this year. It turns out that DeRozan has known Lamar for quite some time, and although he said he still feels love for Drake despite his appearance in this video, there definitely seems to be some tension here.

Shaquille O’Neal: “Make Them Say Uhh!” by Master P featuring Fiend, Silkk the Shocker, Mia X and Mystikal

As we’ve previously covered, Shaq has appeared in a ton of music videos over the years. His first song was the iconic “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!” video, in which he sits on the sidelines looking like he’s having the time of his life as Master P and Co. putting on a show on the hardwood.

Isiah Thomas, Chris Mullin and David Robinson: “2 Legit 2 Quit” by MC Hammer

One of the greatest music videos of all time – it clocks in at just over 14.5 minutes and is packed with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment at the time. Names like Deion Sanders, Rickey Henderson and Wayne Gretzky make cameos, while the NBA is well represented with two members of the Dream Team and, um, a third player who was almost on the Dream Team.

Jimmy Butler: “So Much (for) Stardust” by Fall Out Boy

By far the most…unique video on this list. It features Jimmy Butler, dressed in what I can only describe as an emo cowboy costume, completely giving himself over to it. (The point, of course, is “Jimmy Butler dresses like that in a Fall Out Boy video.”) There’s no one in the NBA as good as Jimmy, and this video is a pretty good example of why that is.